Xylazine is just one of many ways that these large scale criminal organizations are going to try to profit off of Americans here and people in the United States for illicit purposes for drugs.

And if we don't stay together, if we don't stand together at a federal, state and local level working to address this, to keep our communities safe, we're going to have one too many that we're going to lose in our communities.

One is way too many already.

Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

And that was U.S.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto at a joint press conference with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Also known as the zombie drug or Tranq Xylazine is a tranquilizer for large animals, which Metro Deputy Chief Nicolas Faresei says is especially deadly when mixed with fentanyl and other drugs.

Deputy Chief Faresei what makes Xylazine so dangerous.

A lot of things.

I mean, first and foremost, we're seeing firsthand that it's being cut with fentanyl and we know how deadly fentanyl is.

And then when you add that compound to the mix, we're fighting on these illegal prescriptions.

It's not like a normal opioid.

So Narcan, for example, has no effect on it.

So we're already seeing large amounts of deaths throughout the country with the financial crisis.

Now, when you compound this additive being added, it just takes something that's already dangerous and deadly and makes it a lot more dangerous and deadly.

Senate majority leader chuck Schumer called Xylazine, quote, skin rotting zombie drug.

What is he talking about?

First of all, this this isn't intended to be used on humans.

I mean, I mean, this drug has a use in the veterinary world as an animal tranquilizer, but it was never intended to be ingested by humans, and especially not in a way recreationally to for a euphoric I mean, that's usually done under the control, I think, of when you go to the doctor, you have an anesthesiologist whe an actual medical treatment.

And in what other ways does Xylazine impact someone's health?

It can cause death, but obviously it depends how they ingest it.

I mean, we're typically seeing it in powder form and then it's being pressed the pills, but it could also be injected intravenously.

And, you know, like you see with methamphetamine and heroin and and other drugs, that when you inject them intravenously, it can cause, you know, skin problems, irritation, bacteria and infections.

How prevalent is diagnosing in southern Nevada?

So luckily, it's not super prevalent.

However, we can't wait for a crisis to talk about a crisis.

And in 2020, I would say we saw about 2% of all seizures had traces of psilocybin in it.

But by 2022, it went up to 7%.

And that's just here in southern Nevada.

But, you know, we work with our partners at the federal government, specifically the Drug Enforcement Agency, and they're seeing this largely on the East Coast.

And it's starting to move to the West Coast.

So, you know, that's that's why it was so important that Senator Cortez Masto partnered with us and she's trying to make legislation and why we did that press conference the other day.

We really need to get the word out to the community because I don't want to wait.

One Death is too many deaths.

Is it illegal for humans to use Xylazine?

That's why this legislation is so important right now.

It's not illegal to possess it.

I mean, it's readily available on the Internet, you know, And the criminals that are capitalizing in the illicit drug market know this as well.

And it's very cheap to purchase.

So it's from a drug dealer standpoint, it's economical for them to use that to cut it with fentanyl and to illegal pharmaceuticals that then they sell on the black market and to our community.

When I looked online, it seems you have to either have a prescription or a veterinarian's license to buy it.

Is that right to purchase it legally, yes, as a veterinarian.

But, you know, it's if you look on the Internet long enough, you can find other ways.

I mean, there's the dark web, the black web, and it's available.

What tools do you need to combat Xylazine?

We need it to be labeled as a controlled substance so that we can charge people when they're in possession of it.

And more importantly, you know, go after the drug dealers.

And that's where we've really seen the most impact in our quest to combat fentanyl with our overdose response team is doing those investigations and, you know, going after the drug dealers that are selling these drugs to people that, quite frankly, they don't know what they're taking.

You know, a very, very little small amount of fentanyl, a trace amount in a pill could be enough to be deadly.

And it's not like these pills are being made by pharmacies in a controlled environment.

They're being made in areas with no control system and you don't know what you're buying, which is why it's important for people to only purchase prescription pills from a licensed pharmacies and having a legitimate prescription from a prescribing doctor.

Now, overdose response team, what impact has it had?

You know, it's it's hard to measure your impacts, but I would venture to say if somebody lost a loved one and unfortunately, with the amount of deaths that we've seen in our community over the years, just through the fetanol crisis, maybe being able to bring some closure and hold somebody accountable for the death of a loved one that's no longer here.

I would say that that's the biggest impact on what drives those detectives and motivates them to do the job that they do.

And finally, at that press conference you held with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, you said that overdosing is 100% preventable.

How so?

First off, if you have an addiction, there's help out there.

And that's why we tell people, you know, there's resources.

If you go to LV, MPD, dot com and you click on our tab for resources, there's a whole plethora of resources out there that can help people with addiction.

And secondly, don't buy illegal drugs, specifically prescription drugs.

You know, you go to a doctor, you get a prescription, you go to your legitimate pharmacist, you're going to be safe, you're going to be okay.

But when you're buying stuff off the street and you don't know what you're buying and who you're buying it from, that's 100% preventable.

Right now in Congress, Senator Cortez Masto has two pieces of legislation cracking down on Xylazine and fentanyl.

If passed, she says the combating Illicit Dealers Act would make the illicit use of xylene a Schedule three controlled drug, while the Fend off Fentanyl Act would direct the Treasury Department to target, sanction and block the financial assets of transnational drug trafficking organizations.